“We dreamed an American dream,” Ferik Duka says, lighting another cigarette. “We loved this country. We still do.” Across the spacious Cherry Hill living room, his wife, Zurata, nods. So does their son Burim, 24, whose older brothers, Dritan, Shain, and Eljvir, are serving life sentences for conspiring to kill American military personnel at Fort Dix. The charges followed a 16-month federal investigation that yielded hundreds of hours of surveillance video and audio recordings. The trial in US District Court in Camden took three months, and jurors deliberated for six days before delivering their verdict Dec. 22, 2008. For the Dukas — a family of ethnic Albanian Muslims who emigrated to the United States illegally in 1984 — the truth is this: Dritan, Shain, and Eljvir were targeted because of their religion. Ferik, 69, and his wife insist that their three older sons, all of whom were under 30 when they were arrested May 7, 2007, were manipulated by a sketchy pair of paid government informants who goaded them into appearing to support violent jihad. The Dukas describe their sons as hardworking family men too busy doing good deeds in the community to be radicalized. They say Dritan and Shain were entrapped into illegally buying AK-47s and other firearms. Men of Albanian extraction, Burim explains, love guns.And all three brothers, the family contends, were convicted by a legal system that since the 9/11 terrorist attacks has been willing to believe the worst about young Muslim men. The brothers’ friends Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar also were charged and convicted. Although she and her family blame the guilty verdicts partly on the media, they are heartened that The Intercept and other online, as well as print, publications are raising questions. “For many scholars, lawyers, and human-rights advocates, the Dukas’ case remains one of the most egregious post-9/11 entrapment cases,” notes Sally Eberhardt, a researcher for Educators for Civil Liberties in New York City. New York lawyer Robert J. Boyle, who represents the three, filed a motion in February 2014 asking the federal court in Camden to vacate the convictions and sentences. It contends that the Duka brothers were “coerced” by their lawyers against testifying at trial. The motion is pending before the trial judge, Robert B. Kugler.

NATION

US STRONG news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 6.01.2020. Rose Garden 6:43 P.M. EDT. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. My fellow Americans: My first and highest duty as President is to defend our great country and the American people. I […]

US Strong news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 5.30.2020. Rose Garden. May 29, 2020 2:48 P.M. EDT. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Thank you. I’m here today to talk about our relationship with China and several new measures to protect

US STRONG news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 6.01.2020. Rose Garden 6:43 P.M. EDT. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. My fellow Americans: My first and highest duty as President is to defend our great country and the American […]

US Strong news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 5.30.2020. Rose Garden. May 29, 2020 2:48 P.M. EDT. THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Thank you. I’m here today to talk about our relationship with China and several new measures to protect

US STRONG news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 5.26.2020. Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of approximately 50 States, territories, and the city of Washington, DC, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to discuss best […]

US STRONG news – Atlanta, GA: CDC reports 5.23.2020. CDC offers the following general considerations to help communities of faith discern how best to practice their beliefs while keeping their staff and congregations safe. Millions of Americans embrace worship as an […]

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US STRONG news – Washington, DC: The White House 5.22.2020 reports: President Trump, “We want our churches and our places of faith and worship; we want them to open. And CDC is going to be — I believe today they’re going to be issuing a

US STRONG news – CDC reports 5.19.2020. Two symptomatic people attended gatherings in a small Arkansas church in early March. Of the 92 church members who attended the gatherings, 35 were later confirmed to have COVID-19, which led to three deaths. Through contact tracing, an

US STRONG news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 5.17.2020. South Lawn. 1:07 P.M. EDT. Q So, Mr. President, President — former President Obama seemed to suggest that you aren’t even pretending to be in charge. What’s your […]

US STRONG news – Washington, DC: The White House reports 5.18.2020. Roundtable with Restaurant Executives and Industry Leaders State Dining Room. 2:47 P.M. EDT. THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. We’re here with the leaders of the restaurant […]

US Strong news – Washington, DC: C-Span reports 5.14.2020. Watch Video. Rick Bright, the recent director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) who filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was forced out of his job, testified before the House […]